All you have to do is look up to find new business

BY Greg Yearsley

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Contract service companies clean just about everything … floors, furniture, bathrooms, windows, ducts. However, one service that few currently offer is ceiling and wall cleaning. This high-value service could be a great way for BSCs to create new business and boost profits. Research indicates that it’s often possible to earn between $.20 and $.30 a square foot for ceilings and walls, which compares quite favorably to the typical rate for carpet, which can pay $.10 to $.15 per square foot.

Probably the strongest application for ceiling and wall cleaning is in commercial kitchens. The constant airborne grease and fat, along with smoke and soot, don’t take long to build up a real mess. Add to that the fact that food service areas in many buildings are inspected on a quarterly basis, and there’s a high cleaning need opportunity.

Depending on a BSC’s account base, kitchens are probably already in many of the buildings they currently service. Restaurants, bakeries, clubs, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and many office buildings (to name just a few) have foodservice areas that are ideal candidates.

Many other facility managers also are interested in ceiling and wall cleaning when BSCs explain that it improves the indoor environment, beautifies surfaces, reduces dirt buildup that can clog filters and vents, and reduces maintenance costs for repainting and surface replacement.

Ceilings and walls divide into two general groups for cleaning: Nonporous (hard surfaces) and porous surfaces.

Nonporous tiles generally are in kitchens, bath and shower rooms and other areas that require intense periodic cleaning. Cleaning processes for hard surface ceilings and walls include the traditional spray-on, wipe-off systems; a newer extraction system uses a vacuum tool to apply solution, emulsify dirt and remove the residue in a single pass.

Porous surfaces, such as acoustical tile and popcorn textured tile, are prevalent in most buildings. These surfaces are prone to discoloration and dirt build-up over time, especially around vents and in areas where smoking is permitted. Since porous surfaces absorb the cleaning solution, spray-on oxygenated cleaners are the popular choice for porous ceilings and walls. These solutions basically dissolve dirt without scrubbing while whitening and brightening surfaces. — By Greg Yearsley of Rug Doctor, 866-209-3467

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